Here’s A Look At the Tech Platforms And Tactics In Use by B2B Marketers

B2B marketers are expressing confidence in their sophisticated use of web analytics but have a ways to go in adopting customer data platforms. So finds Dun & Bradstreet in its 2019 Data-Driven Marketing & Advertising Outlook survey [download page], conducted by Adweek Branded among 237 B2B marketers.

The results indicate that virtually all B2B marketers (94%) use web analytics, and that roughly half (48%) use web analytics with advanced functions.

B2B marketers have also widely adopted content management platforms, with 72% using them and 30% using them with advanced functions.

Not surprisingly, customer relationship management (CRM) technologies are also commonly used, though like content management platforms more use them for basic (48%) functions than for advanced ones (36%).

Other technologies show less maturity and adoption. Interestingly, relatively few B2B marketers (57%) are using a marketing automation platform, and just 1 in 4 report sophisticated use of marketing automation. It’s a similar story with data management platforms, which are in use by a slight majority (52%), with 1 in 4 reporting advanced usage.

Finally, demand-side platforms (41% using to some degree) and customer data platforms (45% using to some degree) are the least common technologies in B2B marketers’ stacks.

Most B2B Marketers Say They Can Create Data-Driven Insights

Indeed, more than half (56%) report currently creating actionable data-driven insights, and another third (35%) feel that they’ll have this capability in the next 1-2 years.

About half of B2B marketers, meanwhile, are personalizing experiences across digital channels (48%), though fewer (33%) are personalizing across both digital and offline channels.

There’s also less ability on the part of B2B marketers to currently engage in multi-channel attribution (a common problem for marketers), 1:1 targeted customer engagement strategies, and predictive analytics.

The DnB analysts point out that B2B agencies seem to be ahead of their brand counterparts in the implementation of a number of platforms and tactics, though.

For example, 31% of B2B agencies are using a demand-side platform with advanced functions, compared to 19% of brand respondents. Agencies also report higher usage of tactics including:

Real-time campaign optimization (58% versus 39% of brands);

Cross-device targeting (63% versus 36% of brands); and

Predictive analytics (42% versus 28% of brands)

This could indicate an over-reliance on agencies on the part of brands for data-driven marketing, according to the report, and agencies do report more confidence in their ability to manage and derive insights from 1st- and 3rd-party data than do brand marketers.

What’s to Blame?

For B2B marketers looking to point the finger, there are a range of obstacles that are cited as culprits. When asked to identify their companies’ biggest obstacles to succeeding with data-driven marketing, respondents tagged siloed or inaccessible customer data (32%), integrating of marketing and sales platforms (32%), incomplete customer data (30%), lack of data expertise (30%) and accuracy of audience data (27%) as their largest hindrances.